Highway to Hell
by IzumiIncarnate
Summary: Follows five year old Yusuke as he progresses through life, and how he became the man we now know. WARNING: Contains depictions of spousal abuse.


AN: First I want to thank Kiki for beta-ing this fic for me, and to Mikanis who fic Welcome to Whammy inspired me to write what I consider the backstory to Yusuke. I must tell you this fic includes no yoai, yuri or any pairing including Yusuke and explicitly follows the plot of the show. This is the backstory, this is how Yusuke became who he is... at least to me. Read and Review, and I hope you enjoy.

The first day

Five-year old Yusuke stood in awe before the large building that was to be his elementary school. He clutched Atsuko's hand tightly, not wanting to leave the safety of his mother's side. She couldn't help the bittersweet feelings rush through her mind conflicting with her motherly instincts and societal norms. She was so young, only 20 years old, and yet her son was entering kindergarten. Atsuko almost didn't want to leave her son's side, and stay holding his hand forever, and yet she was so happy that Yusuke was finally starting his life. More than anything, she was just so happy that they had made it. Atsuko and her son had made it to this point, and no matter how difficult it was to do so, it was extremely satisfying. This was it, the moment that would change Yusuke's life forever as he started the slow process of growing up and becoming a man.

Atsuko knew that it would be a long time before Yusuke was grown, but she wondered what her son would be like. Yusuke was such a nice boy, so helpful for one so young; Atsuko could easily see Yusuke growing up to be an affectionate, understanding, and compassionate man.

She knelt down to her son's level, kissing him on the cheek, as her eyes sparkled from the threat of tears. "Now Yusuke, you be a good boy for mommy okay? Make sure you listen to your teacher and play nice with others." She threw her arms around Yusuke, a part of her never wanting to let go. The tears finally fell slowly down her face as Yusuke hugged her back and said, "I love you, mommy," before toddling into the unfamiliar territory of the school.

She continued to stand in front of the school, content to just stare at the building as her mind slowed down enough for her to think clearly. It was a crisp fall day, and the sun was hiding from the world, so it became cold quickly. She wrapped herself up tightly in her coat before finally leaving the spot behind, confident that her son would be just fine.

She found that as the walked home, the less and less she wanted to be there. She knew by then that her husband would be home and that in of it self made her want to leave. The surrounding weather seemed to cue into her mood as the clouds slowly got darker, and a lonely breeze blew against her. After five minutes of nonstop inner turmoil, she reached her apartment building and the rampant thoughts came to a screeching halt, replaced with a resigned tiredness that came hand in hand with her husband.

She opened the door, and quickly closed it behind her, taking off her shoes silently. She no longer noticed what her apartment would look like to an outsider. It had a tired, weathered look to it resigned to a life it didn't want. It smelled stale, an unfortunate mixture of cigarettes and beer was strong enough that one unaccustomed to the smell could smell it five feet from the wall of the house. Nothing seemed to be where it belonged, if the objects even belonged anywhere. It fit Atsuko nicely, the smell, the disorganized fractions of her mind and emotions, and the tired resignation that she had yet to notice had become her main emotion.

She hung up her coat, and turned to see a lump on the couch slowly move. She hated it when she was right. Her husband was definitely home. The lump coughed and sat up and red, puffy eyes met those of his wife.

"What's up," the lump, known as Bishoman asked.

Urameshi Bishoman, a character indeed. Bishoman was Atsuko's husband, and the father of Yusuke, although some days both members of the marriage doubted it. Atsuko never agreed with the name "Bishoman", the name of the god of war. War had a ring to it that sounded of loyalty, honor, and dignity all of which her husband sorely lacked. The only part she agreed with, was like war, the tiniest hint of a threat or anything going strictly against his code could cause him to erupt into an all out confrontation.

He walked past her, to the small kitchen, where he grabbed a beer, and began chugging. By the way he smelled, walked, and looked, Atsuko could tell that her husband was drunk, and most likely coming down from a high. She followed him the kitchen, where she stood, starting to work on the horrendous mess in the kitchen.

"Bisho," Atsuko said, calling by his familiar nickname, "I thought you were supposed to be at work."

"Does it look like I'm at work?" He asked defiantly.

"Did you get fired again?" Atsuko asked with a sigh.

"Good to know you think so fucking highly of me."

"Just answer the goddamn question, did you or did you not get your lazy ass fired… again."

"No, I quit this time. The fuckers were being completely unreasonable with my schedule and always getting on my case. So what if I go in to work after a few beers, it's not like it's that big of a fucking deal, but they told me I had better stop or get out. So I quit, and punched the asshole in the face."

"Bisho, you can't keep doing this shit! You have to think about your son."

"The hell I do, he's your little runt."

"Don't ever say that about Yusuke," Atsuko said, her rage building. He had crossed a line, and even though she was the one to bring Yusuke into the situation, she wasn't accusing him of anything.

"I'll talk about him as I want, bitch and I'll do what I want too. This is what you wanted, right? Well this is the life you signed up for when you got you got knocked up and trapped me in this marriage."

"Trapped you? I didn't trap you; that would imply that I gave a fuck about you!" She had crossed the line and she knew it. In Bisho's head, it was perfectly alright for him to say that she was meaningless or talk back to her, but she shouldn't dare to say the same about him. Atsuko knew what was going to happen, and braced herself for the backhand. It hit with a deafening smack, making her stumble back. It wasn't the worst she'd ever had from him. There was no blood, all her teeth were still in place, and it didn't break the  
skin.

She looked into her husbands smoldering eyes, with angry eyes of her own that would scare most people but didn't even phase Bishoman anymore, he was stronger then her and he knew it.

"I'll do what I want, do you understand me? If I want to go and get drunk and high while partying all night and fucking other women, then I can. I won't let a conniving bitch like you rule my life because you were pathetic enough to get knocked up and come crying to the first man to offer comfort!" And there was another deafening smack, only Atsuko wasn't on the receiving end this time. Bishoman never looked surprised and never looked like it had fazed him except to piss him off.

He picked Atsuko up by her collar, whirled her around and slammed her back into the refrigerator all the while his furious eyes locked with hers.

"Do you need to have a lesson in respect, bitch? Don't you dare do that to me again or you won't be able to get back up after I'm through beating you." He smacked her on the face once more; making sure his point came across clearly before grabbing his coat and stalking out of the house.

She slid to the floor, and sat there for a minute. That last hit had not been light; it had hurt like a son of a bitch and had caught her at the wrong moment, making her bite her tongue. She walked to the sink and spat out the blood, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. She walked back to the refrigerator and grabbed a beer. She had about an hour until she had to go to work so she had a little while to stay at home, and watch some TV.

* * *

When Yusuke walked into the large, colorful room, he couldn't believe his eyes. His house seemed to only have grays and browns in it, but the room had light blue walls, a light green carpet, and toys spread all over. He would have enjoyed it a lot more if he were alone in the room. As it was, there were over fifteen other kids in the room, yelling, laughing, and running around. Yusuke had never had the chance to be around a lot of other kids his age before, and so felt awkward and shy in the new situation. He looked around and saw that in the corner of the room were some toy cars, and so slowly made his way over there.

As he got closer, he saw that behind the large dollhouse next to the cars was a little boy, playing with a toy motorcycle. Yusuke saw how odd the boy looked. He was pale, paler then most other people he saw, and he had wiry orange hair that fell around the boys face. The boy looked up at Yusuke, and slinked back further.  
Yusuke wasn't in the talking mood, and so shrugged and picked up a Tonka truck.

"I was playing with that," came a soft remark from the boy.

"Oh, well, can I play with it for now?" Yusuke asked, not quite understanding what the orange-haired boy meant. So what if he was playing with the truck, he hadn't been at that second and Yusuke wanted it so why couldn't he take it?

"No, I want to play with it some more."

"Well you can't." Both boys stared at each other, both of them wanting nothing more then to take the truck and run. Neither of them had ever been around other kids enough to have to learn the value of sharing. Yusuke was an only child and Kuwabara had an older sister, but they never liked the same things. So both kids, thinking that they were right began to become as pissed as a five-year old can manage while staying quiet. If the teacher hadn't called everybody to the center of the room for story time, the kids probably would have started yelling at one another.

"Everyone, I am Minamino Shiori, but because I am your teacher, you guys will call me 'Minamino-sensei.' When I call your name, please say 'here' and tell us one thing you like. Kuwabara."

"Here," said the orange-haired boy. He sounded nervous, but said softly, "I like kitties."

"Okay, Urameshi."

Yusuke looked over at the strange orange-haired, kitten loving boy next to him and said "Here. I like Tonka trucks." The boys stared at each other for a moment, before looking away, neither wanting to talk to the other.

Thirty minutes later, they were all sitting around large table of four kids. It was unfortunate that Yusuke and Kuwabara were sat next to each other. It was their job to draw something that they liked. One girl drew a flower, another boy drew a boat, Yusuke and Kuwabara took a different approach. Kuwabara drew a picture of a cat sitting next to a Tonka truck, while Yusuke tried to draw a picture of a truck running over a cat. The teacher stopped him however, and reprimanded him for drawing such a picture and put him in time out for five minutes.

* * *

Atsuko first met Bishoman when she was a freshman in high school. He was a sophomore, a sportsman, charming, and a known ladies man. She was wildly beautiful, smart, and said to have a rebellious streak. Within a month of them meeting, Atsuko was found rebelling against her parents in their coat closet with Bishoman. She was locked in her house, which only made their 'forbidden' relationship grow passionately. Then, three months later Atsuko was found to be pregnant. It didn't take her parents more then an hour to disown their "tramp of a daughter."

Atsuko of course went to the first man that she could think of, none other than the father of her future son, Bishoman. At first Bishoman was thrilled by the idea. He was going to graduate in a year, and he would be a father. But that was the problem with Bishoman, he like the idea of many things, but in practicality it all fell apart.

He first started resenting the baby during the last month of Atsuko's pregnancy. She became irritable, bitchy, and an all-around pain in the ass. Then after the baby was born, he had loved the idea of his son until he began screaming into the long hours of the night, causing him to loose his 'precious sleep'.

Atsuko and his relationship only went down hill from there. Bishoman barely graduated high school, forcing him to take up degrading, part-time jobs. Yusuke didn't get any easier to take care of as he got older, and soon he was a full-fledged toddler, screaming his way into his terrible two's. Bishoman slid into alcoholism and occasional drug usage, which was when he became abusive.

That was why Atsuko sat in her cubical, answering the phone with a split lip and bruise on her jaw. She was glad that her jobs no longer required working directly and personally with customers, she had to quit that job when Bishoman first became abusive. People constantly asked her about the bruises and cuts, and she always chalked them up to be nothing more then the usual clumsiness. Atsuko was actually not a clumsy person by nature, but she had to act that way in order to protect her husband. Which brought up the omnipresent question "why?" Why was Atsuko working so hard to keep her husband in the marriage with her? Why was she defending the slime ball after he attacked her repeatedly? Why didn't she just leave?

The answer was always the same: Yusuke. As long as Bishoman was safe around Yusuke, then she figured it was better for Yusuke to be raised by both parents rather then one, not to mention that she was unsure if she could care for the two of them on her own. So, as long as Yusuke was there and unharmed, Atsuko would be the opposite in the hopes of helping her son.

* * *

Yusuke pouted in time out, boring a hole in the back of Kuwabara's head. Somehow, this whole thing was that orange-haired weirdo's fault, he just hadn't figured out how yet, although in the grand scheme of things that was irrelevant.

Kuwabara seemed to be unaffected by the murderous glares, although inside his heart was racing. It wasn't until Yusuke was let out of timeout that Kuwabara showed how worried he was. Yusuke never figured out how scared the boy was though, as he became preoccupied with drawing a new picture. The teacher would not let the students play until they had finished their artwork, which Yusuke had yet to actually complete.

Hurriedly Yusuke started on his picture. Most of the color crayons were in the other kids' hands, and Yusuke found that he only had the blue and black crayons left. He started drawing, not caring what the end product looked like. He found that his hand drew and odd bird, a small one with a thick mane and long ears. He didn't really know why he drew it, but he told the teacher it was his favorite stuffed animal, and she let him join the other kids.

He hurriedly went over to the Legos, where Kuwabara sat building a city. Silently he sat next to the boy, not bothering to pay any attention to him, as he scooped a handful of Legos out of the mountainous pile, and began to build his section of the city. He was going to build one bigger and grander then Kuwabara could ever build. The rivalry continued to flow through both boys auras as they continued to build their Freudian, competing cities.

Ten minutes later, something happened that neither the boys nor the teacher saw coming. A large kindergartner, with an evil smirk on his face kicked down Kuwabara's side of the city, and was about to start on Yusuke's, but both boy's shot up and joined forces in yelling at the boy, who rewarded their efforts by kicking down Yusuke's. The teacher finally ran over there and lectured the boy, but to both Kuwabara and Yusuke it was too late. Both of them were down to square one, a new begging, allowing a newfound friendship blossom between the two boys. Whether conscious or not, the decision to be friends would change the two boys lives forever, after all, a friendship between two outcasts is strong, and almost never dies.

* * *

Atsuko looked up nervously as she heard the kindergartners run out of their school building like escapees of a prison. She looked through the crowd and saw Yusuke run up to his mother, wrapping his arms around his mother's legs. She smiled, and bent down to hug her son back.

"How was school today?" She asked as she and Yusuke walked back towards the apartment.

Yusuke looked up at his mother with an excited gleam to his eyes, and began the long ramble.

"There's this kid name Kuwabara and he looks funny and has orange hair. He wouldn't let me use the toy truck so at first I didn't like him. Then I drew a picture of a cat getting run over by a truck, but Minamino-sensei said that I couldn't do that and put me in time out. Then I drew a new picture of a weird bird and then played with some Legos, but they were knocked down by this big kid, and Kuwabara stood up for me so now we're friends." Yusuke looked up proudly as his mother, who had yet to fully process the "I drew a picture of a cat getting run over", smiled at her son. Yusuke seemed to be really happy, and that's all that mattered.

Yusuke continued to talk about the lunch at school, until they finally had walked to the apartment building, and up the flight of stairs. Atsuko and Yusuke walked into the apartment and shut the door.

7:00 pm later on that evening

Bishoman staggered into his apartment, barely able to stand from the alcohol that slowly climbed into his blood stream like slugs. He looked up and saw Yusuke and Atsuko watching TV in the living room.

"Shouldn' tha' kid be in bed?" Bishoman asked with a heavy slur. Atsuko looked up and sighed at the image of her husband. His clothes were ripped; he had a scratch on his face, and was leaning against the coat rack with a bottle of beer in his hand.

"It's only 7:00 o'clock," she answered before turning back to the TV.

"What? Then what the hell are you doing home? You should be at work you worthless slut."  
Atsuko turned to Yusuke quickly and said, "Yusuke, honey, why don't you go play in your room for a while." Yusuke nodded and walked slowly to his room, closing the door behind him. Even with the walls surrounding him, he could hear his parents arguing in the other room like tone-deaf screamers, followed by the thumping and clashing of blows landing on whatever available surface his father had to smash his hand to make a point, like an angry rhythm-deprived drummer. All the noise blended with the sounds of his small sniffles and muffled whimpers added the harmony to the music of chaos that flooded through his apartment. As Yusuke cried into his pillow, he'd rather be deaf forever then for the three-man band of Urameshi's continue.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy. I am really busy so I'm not entirely sure when this fic will be continued. It depends on the response I get. If you want to contact me, feel free to email me at  
I would love to talk to you!


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